Joan Ramón 'Juan' Epitié Dyowe Roig (born 12 October 1976) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a forward. Born in Spain, he played for the Equatorial Guinea national team.

Club career

Born in

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of Bages county, located in the central region of Catalonia, Spain. Crossed by the river Cardener, it is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged aro ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Epitié played in Spain for the vast majority of his professional career, starting with local

Palamós CF Palamós Club de Futbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Palamós, a town and commercial port in the ''Costa Brava'', in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in the late 19th century, it currently plays in , holding home matc ...

in the fourth division. He was signed by two

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

clubs,

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

and

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

, but never appeared officially for either. On loan precisely from the

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

ns, Epitié joined Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in early 2004. He failed to impress, only appearing in one

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup (, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League Ligat ha'Al, Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division Liga Leumit. Both of the ...

match, and ended up signing with another side in the country,

F.C. Ashdod Moadon Sport Ashdod (, ''Sport Club Ashdod''), commonly referred to as F.C Ashdod (, ''Mem Samekh Ashdod''), is an Israeli professional football club, playing in the port city of Ashdod. The unusual name of the team (unlike most Israeli foot ...

, meeting a similar fate – he was released after a couple of months. In the 2004–05 season, Epitié returned to Alavés, now in the second level, and contributed with three goals as the

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

returned to the top flight. He was however released during the ensuing summer, moving to fellow league team

CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Nou E ...

. Epitié re-signed with Alavés in January 2007, but was immediately loaned to

California Victory The California Victory was a USL First Division professional soccer team based in San Francisco, California. It was an expansion team for the 2007 season, but ceased operation in September of that year after parent club Deportivo Alavés withdre ...

. During his spell in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, which lasted less than one month, he played his first and last games against the same opposition, the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

. In the summer of 2007, Epitié returned to his country of adoption, resuming his career in the lower leagues and competing mainly in his native region.

International career

As many players born in Spain, Epitié chose to represent

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

through ancestry. On 1 June 2008, he scored one in the nation's 2–0 home win against

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

qualifiers.

Personal life

Epitié's younger brother, Rubén, was also a footballer, in the same position. He spent the vast majority of his career in Spain's amateur leagues, and also appeared for Equatorial Guinea internationally.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Epitie, Juan 1976 births Living people Footballers from Manresa Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent Equatoguinean sportspeople of Spanish descent Equatoguinean people of Catalan descent Spanish men's footballers Equatoguinean men's footballers Men's association football forwards Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players CE Manresa players Palamós CF footballers Getafe CF footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers Deportivo Alavés B players Recreativo de Huelva players Racing de Santander players Burgos CF footballers Deportivo Alavés players CD Castellón footballers Lorca Deportiva CF footballers Israeli Premier League players Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. players F.C. Ashdod players USL First Division players California Victory players Equatorial Guinea men's international footballers International sportspeople born abroad Spanish expatriate men's footballers Equatoguinean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in Israel Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in the United States 20th-century Catalan people 21st-century Catalan people 21st-century Equatoguinean people